Manure-spreader.



No. 872,000. PATENTED NOV. 26, 1907. B. O. LITOHFIELD & D. GARST. MANURESPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11,1906.

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Y 56 W ATTORNE UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

EDGAR O. LITGHFIELD AND DUDLEY GARST, OF WATERLOO, IOWA, ASSIGNORS TOTHE LITGHFIELD MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF WATERLOO, IOWA.

MANURE-SPREADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1907.

Application filed June 11. 1906. Serial No. 321.169.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDGAR C. Lrron- FIELD and DUDLEY GAnsr, citizens ofthe United States of America, and residents of Waterloo, Blackhawkcounty, Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inManure-Spreaders, of which the following is a specification.

"Our invention relates to improvements in manure Spreaders, and the obect of our in vention is to so modify the arrangement and respectivelengths of the different teeth along the exterior cylindrical peripheryof the beater drum as to effect a more complete disintegration anddelivery of masses of compacted manure than could be ,accomplished bythe ordinary means. This obect we have achieved by the means which arehereinafter described and claimed, and

which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1is a sideelevation of the rear of a spreader box and heater drum, theforward end of said box being represented as being broken away, and Fig.2 is a plan view of the same.

Similar characters of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Cow manure, which has become mixed and compacted with straw or 'toughwire grass, forms into large dense masses which are diflicult todisintegrate and distribute evenly by means of a beater drum havingteeth of an e ual length. Such teeth either slide over su h masses, orelse discharge the lumps without proper disintegration. We have variedthe arrangement and length of the beater teeth, in order to accomplishmore efficiently the operations of breaking apart such densecompactions, as follows.

A beater drum f may have its journals 6, c, rotatably mounted inbrackets (Z, d, the latter extending from the rear end of the spreaderbox a, or otherwise as desired, and said drum may be arranged to rotatenear the rear end of a movable apron c, the latter moving over a roller6.

The drum-heads f may be connected by separated longitudinal slats i, ormay be attached to the ends of a cylinder, if desired, but in eitherevent, the teeth g and h are radially attached to the cylindricalperiphery of the drum. We have shown the teeth graded into two len ths,of which the teeth h are but one half the ength of the teeth g, and

are alternately located in each row, the locations of the teeth on theseveral rows being such that while but few teeth are laced in any onerow, one revolution of the rum will cause the se arating space along theperiphery of said rum to be swept at equal close intervals. l'Ve do not,however, mean to limit ourselves to the exact arrangement of location orspacing apart of the teeth as shown, as the arrangement may be widelyvaried in both particulars.

When a load composed of dense masses of compacted manure and straw orother tough binding material is carried toward and against the teeth ofa beater drum like that herein shown, the longer teeth dig into thelumps while such lumps tend to push in upon the shorter teeth, and arethus spurred and agitated until completely disintegrated and deliveredThe effect is to greatly reduce the peripheral friction of the beaterdrum as also the draft of the machine, as the lumps of manure aresegregated and broken apart separately, instead of bearing upon saiddrum in a solid mass as is the case when the teeth of the beater drumare of even length.

The teeth may be formed of more than two lengths or sizes if desired, asthe principle involved in our invention is the use of varying lengths toeffect a varied agitation and stirring of coin acted masses, and abreaking up of the so id wall of material before the drum by separatingits component lumps from each other to be separately disintegrated.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

In a manure spreader, the combination of a movable apron, a beater-drumrotatably supported at one end thereof, and long and short distributingteeth alternately and spi rally arranged upon the exterior periphery ofsaid beater-drum.

Signed at l/Vaterloo, Iowa, this 7th day of

